jobs report

Friday’s jobs report will almost certainly show a year-over-year decline in employment in the manufacturing sector, which lost more than 90,000 jobs in 2025.

Reports on private sector hiring offer a preview of what to expect in Friday’s federal jobs report, including a growing gap in wage growth between high earners and lower-income households.

Economists say numbers that will be released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on unemployment and wage growth will help them get a sense of consumer’s spending power going forward.

Whether you feel good about the job market probably depends on your industry.

Inflation and job creation are expected to hold steady, but revisions to the 2025 jobs numbers are expected to be large enough to show a net loss for all of last year.

We can get glimpses through private data sources.

The percentage of Americans out of work for 27 weeks or longer hit 26% in December. It's more evidence of a low-hire, low-fire economy — and that AI is starting to replace certain jobs.

Employers announced 8% fewer layoffs in December than a year earlier.

Private sector employers added 41,000 jobs in December, according to payroll processor ADP.

Economists and analysts are looking to new data from late 2025 to help them understand where the economy might be headed in 2026.